Separatist Tamil rebels buried their slain political leader Nov. 5 in a "heroes' cemetery" in the heart of their ministate in northern Sri Lanka, three days after he was killed in a government airstrike.

With Sri Lankan Air Force jets flying overhead, thousands thronged the streets of the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi during the funeral procession for S. P. Tamilselvan, whose body was wrapped in a Tamil Tigers' flag and encased in a glass-topped coffin.

The Sri Lankan government, which controls access to rebel territory, denied journalists permission to cover the funeral.